Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
Carolina Hurricanes center Logan Stankoven (22) warms up before game four of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena
Even the lowest-paid players in the NHL take home significantly more money than the average person earns on an annual basis. That includes Logan Stankoven, the Hurricanes forward who nonetheless turned to Facebook Marketplace to make some cash by listing a couple of his hockey sticks.
The average NHL player earns less money than athletes who make a living in the other leagues that comprise the “Big Four.” The average contract is worth around $3.5 million, which is certainly nothing to scoff at but still less than the NFL (~$5.2 million), MLB ($5.34 million), and NBA ($13.63 million).
Those numbers don’t reflect how much players actually take home, as it is significantly less when taxes, fees for agents and managers, and the various expenses that tend to come with being a professional athlete are taken into consideration.
There are plenty of cautionary tales concerning players who ended up broke after making tens of millions of dollars during their careers, and there are others who purposefully live fairly frugally to avoid following in their footsteps.
It’s also hard to knock anyone who pounces on the opportunity to make some quick cash, but it’s also fair to be amused when the person in question is an NHL player who tried to flip some sticks online.
Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven, who will make $6 million next season, listed two hockey sticks on Facebook Marketplace for $175 a pop
Logan Stankoven recently capped off his fourth NHL season as a Stanley Cup champion, and he scored 11 goals while tallying five assists in the postseason while helping the Hurricanes secure hockey’s ultimate prize during his second campaign with Carolina (the first of which came after he was traded by the Stars at the deadline in 2025).
Last summer, the man who was born and raised in Kamloops, British Columbia secured an eight-year extension worth a cool $48 million, and he’ll be making $6 million on an annual basis when the 2026-27 season kicks off.
However, he was still on a three-year, $2.4 million rookie deal last season, and it appears he decided he could use some extra dough as he waits for his sizable salary bump to kick in (players are only paid during the season).
Someone who was browsing Facebook Marketplace listings in the vicinity of Kamloops recently came across one featuring a couple of “brand new” Warrior hockey sticks (specifically a QR7 and Alpha LX3) for $175 apiece (around $125 in American dollars), and the seller just so happened to be Stankoven itself.
One Facebook user in Kamloops stumbled upon a hockey sticks listing from Stanley Cup Champion Logan Stankoven 😭
(Via IG/kh_x_viii) pic.twitter.com/oHpxuZoPBr
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 13, 2026
It’s a bit hard to imagine he paid for the sticks out of pocket, but he was offering a pretty solid bargain when you consider they tend to retail for more than twice the amount he was seeking.